Paradoxical Instincts
by Mintacia
Summary: Being a cat wasn't very much fun. Nico di Angelo found himself being picked up, petted, and tortured with obnoxious feline puns. On top of all that, he was being babysat (well, catsat) by his crush, Will Solace. As soon as the spell wore off, Nico was going to make Lou Ellen regret accidentally hitting him with her cat orb. / Post-BoO, Solangelo. /
1. I Develop a Serious Case of Cattitude

_Paradoxical Instincts_

_Chapter One: _

**I Develop a Serious Case of Cattitude**

The night was going normally until I saw the cardboard cutout of Lou Ellen. If it hadn't started talking, I might have not noticed it.

"Hello there!" The cardboard cutout buzzed, it's recording of Lou Ellen's voice grainy. "How are you doing today? That is nice to hear."

I stopped in my tracks and stared at the cutout. Of all the peculiar things to find in the forest a little after five A. M., this about topped the list. Who on earth would not only create a cardboard cutout of Lou Ellen and then, secondly, leave it out in the middle of the forest overnight?

I approached the cutout cautiously.

While the cutout seemed completely harmless, I had fallen into the habit of being suspicious of my surroundings everywhere I went around camp. This was because the Aphrodite cabin, within roughly the last week, had been very... uh, '_interested'_ in '_helping_' me with what they perceived as romantic deficit in my life. Despite the fact that I'd politely turned them down several times already, they kept trying to interfere, sometimes forcefully.

Anyways, it was right around five A. M. in the morning, which meant that the Aphrodite campers should still be getting their beauty rest. I really doubted that this random cardboard cutout was meant for me to find.

"Hello there!" The recording buzzed to life again as I stopped a foot away. The moonlight illuminated cardboard cutout Lou Ellen's permanent, crafty smile. I found her frozen expression oddly amusing.

It was as I was pondering this strange cutout when I noticed the blue sphere pushed into the cardboard at her stomach. For a long moment, I pondered about how it looked strangely familiar. There was intricate detail etched onto the surface of the orb. Where had I seen that before?

The answer came to after a moment of consideration. _Lou Ellen's pig balls. _Her pig balls looked something similar to the blue orb.

_Wait..._ I realized that if that sphere looked like a pig ball, it might actually _be _a pig ball. I started to back up immediately, but I wasn't fast enough. The orb glowed for half a second before exploding and filling the world around me with blue smoke. I fell to the ground, my lungs burning and my body numb. The forest cleared up rather quickly, but it took a long spout of coughing to fully clear my chest of the thick smoke. It left terrible flavor in my mouth which reminded me of old tuna. I spat a wad of saliva out on the ground.

As I gathered my bearings again, I realized that the forest had changed. Now, I'm not the tallest of the demigods, but I had never found the forest canopy so far above me. The trees had suddenly gotten a lot larger. "_What the hell_," is what I tried to mutter. However, the noise I actually made was more akin to, "Mrr-row?"

Oh no.

I didn't want to look, but I had to.

My gaze hesitantly dropped downward. Sure enough, my wonderful, normal, human hands had been replaced by a set of paws. The sphere hadn't been a pig ball; it had been a cat ball.

One of the nearby trees rustled. "HAHA, GOT YOU!" The real Lou Ellen landed heavily several feet away. However, she stopped her gloating abruptly when she saw me. "Huh? You're not Cecil."

I hissed at her.

Lou Ellen took a few steps closer and crouched next to me. She looked huge, which was kind of unnerving.

"I know you're not Cecil because he's always a tabby." Lou Ellen commented thoughtfully, before stretching out a hand to pet me on the head. However, since she was the reason I was currently a cat, I wasn't really interested in letting her pet me like some simplistic animal.

I batted her hand away and hissed again.

"Oh, Nico! It's you!" She exclaimed with surprise. I wasn't sure how she figured out who I was. "Sorry, I was trying to prank Cecil. We have this war-thing... anyways, don't worry, the spell should wear off soonish!" She waved her hand nonchalantly.

_Soonish?_ I didn't like the sound of _soonish_. I gave Lou Ellen my best cat glare. I really hoped that by _soonish _she meant, _let's fix this right now!_

She picked me up. Now, I had been carried before when I was a little kid. But as a sixteen year old male, I couldn't remember the last time someone picked me up and carried me. So I reacted, flailing to get out of her grip. Again, I tried to talk, "_PUT ME DOWN!_" but it just came out as a high pitched yowl.

"Holy Hades, calm down. I'm just going to bring you back to camp. You can't stay out here as a cat, 'cause something might eat you."

Hmph! If anything in the forest dared to try and eat me, it would find itself swarmed by undead soldiers. Unfortunately, due to my predicament, I couldn't make this argument with Lou Ellen (besides that, I had a creeping feeling that my underworld powers would work while in cat form). Even though it was absolutely annoying, I decided to allow her to carry me.

I huffed loudly and relaxed in her arms.

When we reached the edge of camp, Lou Ellen went the wrong way. Both the Hades cabin and the Hecate cabin were in the same direction, to our left, with the rest of the newer cabins. Lou Ellen headed to the right. I glared up questioningly at her, sinking my claws gently into her sleeve to get her attention. She ignored me.

The sun was beginning to rise when we reached the Apollo cabin. _"No," _came out as a short growl. I flexed my claws deeper into her sleeve for emphasis.

"Oh, shush you. I don't have time to babysit you today." Lou Ellen was grinning deviously.

I wanted to scream at her, "_You turned me into a cat! I'm your problem, whether you have time or not! You should be concerned with fixing me, not babysitting me!_" But just like before, my vocalizations came out as a mixture of incoherent hisses and growls.

The Apollo cabin was broken into two sides, one for the girls and one for the guys. Lou Ellen went straight for the guy's door and barged in.

"Hey Will – oops!" Her voice jumped up a few pitches at the end of her exclamation.

Several male demigods in various states of undress all turned to stare at Lou Ellen and me. It looked like they all had just woken up, with their hair ruffled and some still partially in their pajamas. Luckily, I was a cat, so no one could see how much blood rushed to my face. In the very back of the group, a shirtless Will Solace was in the process of pulling on a pair of jeans.

He yanked his jeans up quickly when he saw Lou Ellen. The rest of his brothers, while yelling in annoyance and embarrassment, also quickly slipped on more clothes. "Lou Ellen!" Will complained as he walked over. "For crying out loud, you can't just come in like that!"

_Don't stare at his chest. Don't stare at his chest. _I told myself fiercely. _… okay, maybe I'll just stare for a moment._

"Sorry about that, Will." Lou Ellen muttered, clearly embarrassed. It seemed like the half-naked, muscly demigods had affected her too.

Will's face softened. "It's fine. Just... don't do that again. Ever. Please." His eyes drifted down curiously to where Lou Ellen had me cuddled against her chest. I nodded my head at him in greeting.

Before Will could ask why Lou Ellen had brought a cat into his cabin at five thirty A. M. in the morning, she sloppily shifted me around in her arms, grabbed me under the arm pits, and thrusted me towards him.

"I got you a present!" She declared cheerfully.

Flattening my ears back, I let out a hiss, "_I am not a present._"

Will stared in confusion at Lou Ellen, then me, then Lou Ellen again. "Um, what? Lou Ellen, we can't have pets."

"Well, this one is kind of a special pet."

I let out another hiss. Will frowned and asked apprehensively, "Special pet...?"

"I accidentally turned Nico into a cat." Lou Ellen answered flatly.

Behind Will, the other Apollo guys started snickering. Their cabin counselor's ears reddened. "You... what? Why?" He looked at me, clearly baffled. I avoided his gaze, twitching my tail in discomfort. I didn't like all this attention.

"Long story short, I was trying to get Cecil. But I accidentally got Nico with my cat ball." Lou Ellen explained, before taking a step forward and shoving me into Will's chest. Upon hitting Will's muscular chest, every inch of my being felt electrified. It took everything in my power to not sink my claws into Will's bare chest out of shock. _Breath, _I reminded myself. Lou Ellen then said, "Here you go! I've got to get to working making another cat ball to use on Cecil."

With that, she let me go and took a few steps back. I would have fallen, but Will's arms had wrapped around me. Even through my fur, I could feel his warmth. I was glad that he couldn't see my blush since I was, well, a cat.

"Wait, hold on, how long until he turns back into a human!?" Will asked a good question; I would have also liked to know that.

"I dunno, maybe a day?" Lou Ellen replied, a big, innocent smile decorating her face. She didn't wait for any further questions. "Okay, bye!" The mischievous daughter of Hecate turned and skipped out of the cabin.

I made a mental note to get revenge on Lou Ellen as soon as I was back to being a human.

The arms holding me started to move, until Will's hands hooked under my arms just like Lou Ellen's had. Why did everyone want to hold me like that? He held me about a foot away and stared at me curiously.

"Um." He drawled awkwardly, "Hi Nico?"

"_Hi,_" came out as, "Meow."

That's when he started to laugh so hard that he leaned heavily forward, his entire body shaking with each deep laugh. Meanwhile, I didn't find anything worth laughing at. This was a tragic situation, not a funny one! I, the Ghost King, the son of Hades, had been turned into a damned cat! Thoroughly annoyed, I glared at Will.

"Oh gods, Nico, you poor thing." He chortled after calming down. He tilted his head and inspected me curiously. After a pause, Will commented pleasantly, "You make a cute cat though."

I glared at the floor shyly.

He laughed again. "Yep, you're definitely Nico. Okay, well… I guess you're coming with me to work today." Once again, I found myself being handled precariously as he shifted me onto head. His mop of blond hair smelled like lavender and campfire. "Comfortable?" He didn't wait for a reply (not that I could give anyways, since I was a cat). After he put on a button up shirt, we were off.

Technically, I've been alive for almost ninety years. Yet, honestly, I have never experienced an earthquake. Riding on top of Will Solace's head was what I suspected one would feel like. It took everything in my newly found cat balancing skills to keep myself centered on his head.

Will made a pit stop at the dining pavilion for breakfast. The nymphs were more than happy to receive special requests, especially for a handsome son of Apollo. I'd be lying if I said it didn't annoy me at how thrilled they were to scramble to find cat food for Will. "Oh, anything for you, Will!" They cooed sweetly.

The cat kibble that they found was old and stale. Begrudgingly, I gulped some of the tasteless crap down. "_Stupid nymphs._" I complained, which came as, "Mreeow."

"Yea, that was nice of them to find you some cat food." Will agreed happily as he chowed down on his lucky charms. I sighed miserably. It wasn't as fun complaining about things when others couldn't understand me.

When Will finished eating and I was done torturing myself with the cat kibbles, he scooped me up and dumped me back on his head.

It was just past six A. M. when we reached the Big House. Oddly, both Percy and Jason were sitting on the porch steps, awake. It was very unusual to find either Percy or Jason anywhere but in bed before nine A. M. They grinned as Will approached the steps of the porch.

"Hey Will, nice cat." Percy greeted, his grin looking particularly impish. Immediately, I was suspicious.

Jason looked just as insidious, with a grin that matched Percy's. "I thought Chiron doesn't allow pets?" Jason's words sounded more like a satirical line than an honest question. Had Lou Ellen given them a heads up somehow in the time that it took us to eat breakfast?

"Oh, well, he's not a pet." Replied Will, "He's Nico. Lou Ellen accidentally turned him into a cat."

Both of the demigods formed perfect circles with their mouths as they _ohhh_ed. "Well alright then." Percy chuckled, his amused sea green eyes focusing on me. I shifted uncomfortably, diverting my gaze down to the ground.

"So, you're cat-sitting him?" Jason inquired.

"Yea, Lou Ellen asked me to watch him for the day." Will said.

"Hm, I wonder why she picked you!" Commented Percy, a thoughtful finger on his lips.

Beside him, Jason nodded in agreement. "Yea, me too. I like to think I'm a pretty decent cat-sitter!"

"It's like she thought Nico might enjoy Will better as a cat-sitter." Percy quipped, his eyes sparkling mischievously. I groaned.

Will shrugged, which nearly caused me to fall from his head.

"You know..." Jason said with growing excitement, "It's really quite the _purr-dicament_!"

_Oh my gods._ I sighed and covered my eyes with a paw. Sometimes, the children of the most powerful gods were huge dorks.

Percy jumped in on the game. "This situation... it's kind of a _cat-tastrophy_!"

"Guys, I'm _feline_ like this _cat-n't_ get worse."

"I'd be_ lion_ if I said this wasn't _paw-sitively_ strange!"

"It's sort of _hiss-terical, _if you think about it."

"Okay, I'm out of puns."

There was a pause where Jason rubbed his chin. "Me too."

Below me, the blond carpet of hair began to shake as Will laughed awkwardly. "Haha, yea." I found Will's response strangely unenthusiastic. Usually, he loved stupid jokes as much as the sons of Zeus and Poseidon. "I'll see you guys later? I've got patients waiting." He slipped between Percy and Jason on the steps. I glanced back at the two idiots and found them both holding thumbs up at me. When Jason winked at me, I turned away, flustered.

I made a mental note to destroy both Percy and Jason after I was done with Lou Ellen.

The infirmary was busy today. Will started the day by checking on the three demigods that had spent the night in the infirmary: an Ares kid who'd gotten stabbed during sword practice, and the two Stoll brothers. The Stoll brothers, per usual, had landed themselves in the infirmary because another one of their (many) pranks had went awry.

The Stoll brothers were quick to declare that they liked me better as a cat. So, I jumped off Will's head and tried to test out my new claws on them. Will scooped me back up before I could do any real damage.

"No attacking my patients." He chided me, before placing me back on his head. I didn't really agree, but whatever.

Thorough out the day, demigods rolled in consistently for both big and small issues. One Aphrodite girl showed up with a hang nail, tears streaming down her face. Will was amazingly patient, even with her. I watched curiously as he took her hand and began to rhythmically murmur a healing hymn.

While some of the healers would belt out their healing hymns, Will settled for a simple approach. After all, this son of Apollo was (somehow) rather tone deaf. Still, there was something innately soothing about the tenderness of his voice. I relaxed and let myself enjoy his hymn.

I didn't even realize when he had finished with the girl. "Nico..." Will spoke softly, "Are you purring?"

Uh. I hadn't even realized that I had been. "_No," _I tried to lie, "Meow."

"Aww," He chuckled, "Do you like my hymns?"

Abashed, I stayed quiet. If he thought he was getting a reply to that question, he was downright wrong. I wasn't about to voluntarily embarrass myself.

His hand came out of nowhere and lightly pressed onto the top of my head. The sudden petting freaked me out, and I tried to retreat. The only issue was that there was no place to retreat to, so I just ended up slipping off Will's head.

Weird instincts kicked in and I started flailing my limbs in a calculated manner as I fell.

It ended up not mattering though; Will twisted around and caught me. His hands slid to rest under my arm pits and he held me up so that my little cat nose was only an inch from his huge human nose. "Careful there!" Will chuckled. My mind went blank as I stared into his blue eyes. I had dreamed silly, impossible dreams about being this close to him. The only problem was that I hadn't been morphed into cat in my dreams.

He gave me a quick peck on my nose, and my mind short circuited. I stayed frozen as he lifted me back up and plopped me back on his head. My heart was speeding and I couldn't find the soft purr that rumbled through me. _Traitorous purr, _I thought with annoyance.

The rest of the day went by peacefully. I found a very comfortable position on Will's head, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, I found myself on a hard counter with warm pressure brushing over my stomach. It felt nice, so I started to purr. That is, until I peeked an eye open and found that it was Will rubbing my stomach. Surprised, I snapped awake and scrambled up to my paws. It was really weird how casually he kept touching me.

Being a cat was tough.

"Good afternoon, Death-kitty." I scowled at Will's nickname for me. "Ready for dinner?"

Dinner? It had been lunch when I had started my catnap.

I padded to the edge of the cabinet and was about to jump down. I might have been a cat, but I was fully capable of walking around myself to the dining pavilion. The only reason I had let Will carry me around earlier was because... well, I had kind of liked it.

Will picked me up before I could jump down. "I'd rather carry you." He said, as if he had read my mind. "I don't want Mrs. O'Leary getting any ideas."

Today, the nymphs were serving BBQ. The sweet, smoky scent filled the entire pavilion. My mouth began to water as the smell hit me. I was excited up until the moment that the nymphs handed Will both a plate of BBQ and a bowl of the tasteless kibble.

I hissed at them as Will thanked them.

The Apollo table was already full of campers when Will reached it. Once Will had sat down, I hopped onto the table. Some of Will's siblings looked at me curiously, while others seemed more interested in the delicious smoked ribs. One boy in particular glared at me disdainfully, before sneezing loudly.

"Will, I hope you don't plan on bringing him into the cabin tonight." He sneezed again, "I'm really allergic to cats."

Will scratched his cheek, "Oh yea, I forgot. I guess we'll stay over in the Hades cabin tonight."

Next to the Apollo table, the Aphrodite table suddenly broke into riotous giggles. I twisted around and glanced through the shoulders of the Apollo kids. All of the Aphrodite campers were outright staring at me. I couldn't help but think of the many recent offers to '_help_' with my love life that I had turned down from them.

Funnily, I also noticed that Drew Tanaka, who was practically the ring leader of the Aphrodite cabin (despite Piper being the official cabin counselor), was missing from the table.

A few tables away, I noticed Lou Ellen and Cecil sitting next to each other at the Hecate table. They were leaning together, whispering. For a girl who claimed that she had to spend the day trying to turn Cecil into a cat, she seemed unusually chummy with him now. When Lou Ellen noticed me staring, she grinned big, waved, and then winked. Beside her, Cecil laughed and his lips moved in a manner that looked like he said to her, "_You're so mean!"_

The gears started turning in my head. While I didn't fully understand Hecate magic, I hadn't seen Lou Ellen ever accidentally curse the wrong person. Had she purposefully turned me into a cat? A myriad of cusses poured out of my mouth, except all they sounded like was hissing and snarling.

My hissy fit caught Will's attention. "Aren't you hungry?" He asked as he nudged the bowl of cat kibble towards me.

I stared at the cat kibble and considered it. "_Yea, no._" I meowed, but I added in a shake of my head to get my point across. While my cat stomach was growling at me, I decided I'd rather go hungry then torture my taste buds with any more lousy kibble.

"Nico, you should eat! Doctor's orders." Will insisted with a smile. I threw back my head and let out the best moan that my cat vocal cords could do. The big dork wasn't a doctor and he knew it. Will grinned and pushed the bowl forward until it pressed against my legs.

So I did what any good cat would do: while staring firmly at Will, I shoved the bowl right off the table. It clattered to the ground.

"Really?" Will whined. Before he could again remind me that I need to eat something, I got to my paws and stalked over to his plate. If I was going to eat anything, it was going to be worthy of a Ghost King. I pawed one of the ribs off Will's plate.

Somehow, being a cat made the rib taste even better than normal. I dug in and found myself really enjoying the sensation of ripping the meat apart with my teeth. Being a carnivore had its perks. The sauce was getting all over my fur, but I didn't care. The deliciousness made up for the messiness.

Will leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I think I might have to give you a bath after this." There was a hint of teasing in his voice. My fur felt too warm as I squirmed under his amused gaze.

Before I could think of some way to make a witty comeback, the air rippled next to Will. Hazel, my Roman sister, appeared as an iris message stream opened up.

"Hi Will!" Hazel greeted cheerfully.

Will seemed a little confused, but still replied pleasantly, "Oh, uh, hello, Hazel!"

Growling suspiciously, I swiftly climbed up onto Will's shoulders so that Hazel could see me. I wasn't sure what she was trying to pull; after all, she didn't really know Will very well. Not well enough to be calling him randomly at dinner, at least.

"I heard my brother got turned into a cat!" Hazel didn't beat around the bush. As much as I would have preferred to tell her that it's _not of her damned business, _I had to settle with sticking my tongue out at her.

"Yep, he did." Will said, pointing unnecessarily at me.

"Aw, Nico, you are an adorable cat!" She giggled. Even though Hazel was my sister, I found myself wishing that I could summon a few skeletons and send them after her.

Will started petting me again, which I didn't like. His hand made my head bob up and down strangely. "He's not too pleased about it though!" As he laughed, I flexed my claws. I didn't want to mar Will's beauty, but a few scratches on the hand probably wouldn't do any permanent damage.

"Naturally! But I heard you're taking good care of him?"

"Um, yes, ma'am."

"I'm _very _glad to hear that, Will. I'm sure Nico really appreciates you... helping him." This is when I discovered how to fluff out my fur. It wasn't very useful, but it did help express my total rage at Hazel's not-so-subtle comments. From the way she said '_very'_ (more parts of her face moved then was necessary for that word) to the large, purposeful pause after saying '_you_', Hazel words were laced with more than basic concern. I added her to my revenge list.

That made four demigods currently on my revenge list: Lou Ellen, Percy, Jason, and now Hazel.

"Uh." Laughing awkwardly, Will mumbled, "Yea, sure." His face was red.

Luckily, my savior appeared. Never before would I have guessed my knight in shining armor would be Reyna, with her purple and silver clothes rippling with the waves of the iris message.

"Hazel, what are you doing?" She asked bluntly, glancing back and forth between the iris message and Hazel.

For some reason, Hazel sounded chagrined. "Oh, um, I'm just telling Will how glad I am that he's taking care of my brother... because he got turned into a cat."

Reyna's eyes narrowed dangerously. "They actually -" She paused and then huffed, "Idiots. Hazel, you're only encouraging them. Let's not torture Nico." I wasn't about to argue with that suggestion. "Sorry Nico, Will. Have a nice night." Reyna said curtly, before waving her hand and shutting off the iris message.

Most of the dining pavilion was now watching the Apollo table. Personally, I was ready to just go ahead and die from embarrassment. But before I could hop off Will's shoulder and start banging my head into the table, he stood up.

"Uh, I'm full. Good night everyone." I dug my claws into his shirt as he quickly shuffled out of the dining pavilion. I could feel the other campers' eyes on us until we rounded around the corner of one of the camp's buildings. Sighing with relief, I relaxed on Will's shoulders.

Today had been too much. Everyone seemed to be in on some weird joke concerning me and Will. Was this an extensive prank by the Aphrodite cabin? I shuddered fearfully.

"We have weird friends, Nico." Will said with a sigh.

"_You're telling me!_" I groaned in agreement.

At least things couldn't get worse, right?

- x - x -

- x - x - **AUTHOR'S NOTES** - x - x-

Hello! I hope you all enjoyed chapter one. C: I decided to try writing in a style similar to the original five Percy Jackson books, which lead to this. I've actually already got the rest of this story already written; I'll be publishing the next chapters once every three to four days. Favorite and follow along! Also, leave a review. Reviews inspire me to write more, haha.

The idea for the story was loosely inspired by the amazing cat puns in Legowerewolf's Solangelo fan fiction, "Cat-astrophic."

Normally, I include a link at the end of my FF's to a social media site of mine where I post accompanying extra tidbits to go with the main story. However, I am unable to link to that here, so I'll just post the extra tidbit below!

- x - x -

- x - x - **TIDBIT # 1** - x - x -

"How about… cat-tastrophe?" Percy suggested. He was leaned over one of the desks in Jason's cabin, a pen in his hand.

Jason, who was sitting on his bed, nodded enthusiastically. "Ooh, yea, that's a good one. Write that one down."

Biting the bottom of his lip in concentration, Percy sloppily scrawled _cat-tastrophe _on a piece of notebook paper.

Jason scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Let's see… what about… hiss-terical?"

"Yea, I like it!" Percy chuckled, before scribbling _hiss-terical _below _cat-tastrophe_.

Both boys stopped and looked up when the door to the cabin opened. Piper and Lou Ellen entered the Zeus cabin, dragging a life sized cardboard cutout between them. When they propped it up against the wall, Jason blinked several times in surprise.

"What on earth… why do you have a cardboard cutout of yourself, Lou Ellen?" Jason asked.

Before Lou Ellen could reply, a scratchy recording kicked on. "Hello there!" The cutout greeted, in Lou Ellen's voice. Piper reached behind the cutout, messed with it, and the recording shut off.

"This is our trap!" Piper explained cheerfully.

"The cutout is mine, obviously." Lou Ellen chimed in, grinning, "I use it pretty often to dupe people with. It's quite deceptive once I wrap some mist around it."

Jason had a hard time believing that. While the picture of Lou Ellen printed on the cardboard wasn't necessarily bad quality, it was still a two dimensional print out. Besides that, not everyone was swayed easily by mist, including their target.

"Okay, but Nico is pretty good at seeing through the mist." He pointed out, concerned.

"Oh, we're not going to bother wrapping it with mist." Piper said, "We're pretty sure he'll get close to it out of pure curiosity. I mean, look at it!"

"It is pretty weird." Agreed Percy.

"Thanks guys." Lou Ellen snorted, before playfully adding, "Curiosity killed the cat. Or, in this case, curiosity leads to becoming a cat."


	2. I Get Angry at Lou Ellen (Again)

_Paradoxical Instincts_

_Chapter Two:_

**I Get Angry at Lou Ellen (Again)**

I felt nervous when we reached the Hades cabin. Will had never been to into my cabin before, even with how close we'd gotten in the last two years. Not that he had a reason to come over before now – we were just friends, after all.

After the war with Gaea was over, I had gotten a chance to renovate the Hades cabin. Hazel had helped, and together we had removed all of the coffin beds and replaced them with normal beds. The cabin still had an appropriate amount of black and red accents through out it, though.

Hesitating in the door way, Will stared into the cabin.

"I take it the bunk with the skull blanket is yours?" Will finally said, a huge grin appearing on his face.

"_I-it was a gift from Hazel!_" "M-mrrow meow!"

I jumped off Will's shoulder and padded into my cabin. It was nice to be home, even if I was still a cat.

Will started to walk slowly around the cabin, peering with interest at the different things in the cabin. Thankfully, there really wasn't anything for him to see. I kept most of my stuff tucked away in my -!

_OH HOLY HADES! _I thought with horror, as I noticed that I'd left my Mythomagic drawer open in my desk. I didn't play the childish card game any more, but I didn't have the heart to get rid of my old cards... okay, and sometimes I browsed through them. For the sake of nostalgia, I swear.

Anyways, Will was getting ominously close to the open drawer. I realized I had to act.

Cats were fast, and I was no exception. I slammed my paws on the wood as I propelled myself forward, focusing on the open drawer. If I estimated my trajectory correctly, I was pretty sure I could jump and push the drawer close.

I was half right.

I jumped and aimed right; my paws connected with the bottom edge of the drawer. But instead of the drawer moving, I moved, my lower half swinging until I was the wrong way up. My paws slipped from the drawer, and I fell.

The weird instincts kicked in again and I managed to flail myself upright before I hit the ground.

A pair of hands encircled my mid-section, and I found myself being picked up. "Here you go!" Will said, before dumping me on top of the desk.

"_I wasn't trying to – oh, whatever!_" I began to growl, before realizing I needed to focus on the task at hand. The drawer was still open!

I darted to the edge of the desk and tried to lean forward enough to reach the far lip of the drawer.

When Will, his attention switching from me to the drawer, reached forward and tugged the drawer wider open, I let out a high pitched wail, "_Noooo!_" He blinked in surprise at me, before looking down into the drawer. The corners of his lips turned upward.

"Are these... Mythomagic cards?"

"_Close the drawer, Will!_" I wailed as I tried to bat his hands away from the cards.

"Oh man, I loved this game as a kid!'" I froze and blinked in surprise. "I still have my cards too. We should play some time!"

The cool Will Solace played my favorite geeky card game? That caught me off guard. Play Mythomagic... with Will Solace? For some reason, that sounded absolutely lovely. And embarrassing. Embarrassingly lovely?

I gave him a cautionary nod.

For the next couple of minutes, he sat down at my desk and dug through my Mythomagic cards. I watched, perched at the edge of the desk. He didn't say much, but that was fine because I couldn't reply anyways. The silence was surprisingly comfortable.

"Okay." Will said suddenly, "I'm going to go ahead and take a shower and get ready for bed. I'd offer to give you a bath, but I'm betting you don't want one, Mr. Deathkitty?"

"Meow." "_No."_

He laughed, before getting up and heading into the bathroom. The door clicked shut behind him and the shower turned on with ahiss.

Curling up on the desk, I began to lick the BBQ sauce off my paws (which was sort of weird, but felt oddly natural at the same time).

And then Will began to sing. I didn't know the song, but it was sweet and upbeat. Rising to my paws, I tilted my big ears around on my head until they were focused on the door of the bathroom. Even though Will's pitch was all over the place, I still sort of liked his singing. It made me feel... happy.

_I'm being silly, _I chided myself before returning to the task of cleaning my paws off.

Steam poured out into the cabin when the door to the bathroom finally opened and Will stepped out. For the second time in one day, my brain stopped working again. A wet Will Solace wearing only his jeans flashed a smile down at me. "Your shower is a lot nicer than the one in the Apollo cabin. I might have to come over here more often and borrow it." My breath was ragged. If he was going to look like that after every shower, I was fine with him borrowing it every single day.

The ground disappeared from under my paws as he picked me up. I found my fur pressed up against his hot, wet chest. I shuddered as my heart hammered in my ribcage.

Will flipped off the light in the cabin, before falling back onto my bunk. Shirtless, sexy Will Solace was under my sheets, under my skull blanket. He had me tucked close to him, one arm gently propped over me. If I had been a human, we would have been spooning. "Good night, Nico." He murmured softly.

As I was falling asleep, I found myself unsure whether if I wanted revenge on Lou Ellen or if I wanted to thank her.

My dreams started out mundanely.

Scenes of my previous battles flashed across my mind, like whispers of the past. I saw the battle in Manhattan, Leo's warship shooting at New Rome, and then the legion and Camp Half Blood teaming up to fight Gaea's monsters. I saw other, pleasant things too: Piper and Jason cuddled up together on top of a cabin roof, Coach Hedge rocking his newborn son, and Blackjack taking to the sky for the first time since getting injured during the battle.

I was enjoying my dreams up until when I found myself pulled in a familiar cabin with a heavy-set, blond guy snoring in front of me. Sighing in annoyance, I rubbed my temples with my fingers.

"Dammit, Clovis." I growled, even though it wasn't really his fault. Clovis, as the son of Hypnos dreamed so powerfully that he often sucked me into his dreams.

Clovis snorted and smacked his lips loudly as he woke up. "Oh." He murmured sleepily, "Hi Nico. Sorry, you know, again." Honestly, I was pulled into Clovis' dreams so regularly, I wasn't really upset. As peculiar as it was, the two of us had actually sort of become friends due to the frequent dream meetings.

"Yea, it's whatever." I replied with a shrug, before glancing down at my body. In my dreams, I was (refreshingly) a human.

"So, how's being a cat going?"

I glared at Clovis. "Bad."

A few giggles rolled out of the sleepy demigod, "But did you enjoy your day with Will?"

He was teasing me, like everyone else. Heat rushed to my face. How did every demigod know? If I had been a cat in my dream, I would have fluffed up with the rage I felt. "Why do you care!?" I exploded at him, "Why does everyone care!?"

Clovis blinked, before proposing casually, "Maybe because you guys would be a cute couple?"

Choking on my own words, I spluttered, "What-!" How did Clovis know that I was gay? I hadn't told many other people about my, um, _preferences. _Despite my utter embarrassment, Clovis stayed calm and waited. When I finally calmed down enough to talk coherently, I decided I'd rather not breach the topic of my sexuality.

"Will's... probably not even gay, Clovis. So it doesn't matter." I told him, my arms crossed.

"No, he's gay. Or, at least bi."

"What? How do you know that?" I asked incredulously.

"Because the entire camp knows he has a crush on you."

The words _entire camp _took a moment to register in my mind. "... um, and how does the entire camp know this!?"

Clovis sighed loudly. "I can show you last Tuesday's bonfire, if you'd like."

"Last Tuesday's bonfire?" What on earth did last Tuesday's bonfire have anything to do with Will having a crush on me? Before I could ask Clovis, the dream scene around us began to change.

I found myself staring down at the scene before me was both familiar and new. I went to some bonfires, but not this one. I remembered that, on that Tuesday, I had spent the evening learning to drive from Jules-Albert.

I heard Clovis' faded voice say, "It started out with the normal amount of dick-waving..."

Drew Tanaka was standing on the Aphrodite cabin's table. "The Apollo cabin doesn't have a chance against the Aphrodite cabin in tomorrow's capture the flag!"

"Oh yea?" From the other side of the pavilion, Will Solace was standing on the Apollo table. "Maybe we'll plant some mirrors near your flag, and steal it when you guys are too distracted by your own reflections?" The pavilion erupted with laughter and childish _ohh_s.

"At least we have something good to look at in the mirror!" Drew snapped back, "You Apollo kids think that you're so cool, but in reality, you're not!" The Aphrodite kids snapped their fingers with appreciation.

"Cool? I wouldn't say we're cool! I'd say we hot like the sun!" The rest of the Apollo cabin began to howl proudly and bang on the table.

Drew scoffed. "You're a mile from being hot, Will! You can't even get your crush to notice you!" This time, the childish _ohh_scame from the Aphrodite table.

That comment caught both me and Will off guard. What on earth was she talking about? No joke, Will was undeniably hot (but if you tell him that I said that, I_ will _send an army of skeletons after you).

Face turning red, Will yelped with shock, "What!?" He hesitated, before snapping back, "You're one to speak, Drew! I remember you getting ignored by your crush! You're not much of a _lightning rod_ for attention either!" There were a few low _ohhs _from campers who knew about Drew's failed attempts to win over Jason, the son of Zeus, awhile back.

Will looked pretty satisfied with with his retort. Drew, on the hand, looked absolutely livid. Her nostrils flared and her pretty eyes narrowed dangerously.

Drew snarled, "Hey, at least I am not embarrassed about who I like!"

Piper spoke up, her multicolored eyes narrowing at her half-sister, "Drew, watch yourself."

Drew rolled her eyes and ignored Piper, "Don't worry Will, I understand! You're ashamed of your crush!"

The pavilion went silent. I felt rage begin to build up within me. Who Will liked was absolutely none of Drew's business, and she was crossing a seriously line mocking him about it.

Will's face was bright red and he looked furious. His hands were balled into fists. The rest of his brothers and sisters were watching him with concern. One of his sisters tugged at his shirt and said to him, "She's a bitch. Ignore her. Don't reply to that." The others at the table nodded. There were several long seconds where Will remained standing, as if he wasn't going to heed their advice.

But he did sit down, much to the relief of the rest of the Apollo cabin. They clapped Will on the back and murmured reassuring words to him.

"See!?" Drew shouted. I wanted to shout at her to stop, that she was taking it too far. Unfortunately, this had all already happened. I couldn't change the outcome. "He's humiliated because he likes a total weirdo! A weirdo that shouldn't even be here. No one else likes your crush, Will, for a reason!"

It sounded like every camper gasped at the same time. Piper jumped to her feet and began to shout at Drew. However, the most boisterous voice was Will's, "IF YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD ABOUT NICO, I SWEAR -" Half way through his snarl, Will seemed have realized what he had just said.

Meanwhile, my stomach started doing flips. _Nico_, he had said. Me. I was his crush? I felt dizzy, which should have been impossible in a dream.

All faces in the pavilion were staring at Will. Drew had just gotten him to out himself in front of the entire camp. She cackled evilly, "No, go on! What if I say more about _Nico di Angelo_? The _son_ of Hades?"

Will got up quickly, his gaze on the ground. He looked absolutely humiliated as he turned and stormed out of the pavilion. I felt sick to my stomach as I watched him leave.

"Drew, for gods' sake!" Piper screamed right before the dream scene fizzled out.

I found myself in the Hypnos cabin with Clovis again. I was shaking.

"If it makes you feel better, since then, Drew has been pranked and cursed by about every Hermes and Apollo camper." Clovis said with a sad smile. As nice as that was to hear, that didn't really make me feel any better. I knew personally how hard it was to admit that you liked another guy; I had once nearly let Cupid kill me, rather than let Jason know that I was different.

Sighing, I muttered, "Poor Will."

"I know a way you can cheer him up." Clovis offered, winking at me.

I blushed and snapped at him, "Shut up Clovis. I'm still a cat in the waking world, remember?"

Clovis chuckled. "Well, why don't you go ask Lou Ellen to change you back?"

"Because. I. Am. A. Cat." I enunciated every word with frustration. "It's hard to demand things when no one can understand you."

"And Lou Ellen is a daughter of Hecate. She can communicate with the people whom she changes into animals."

I stared at Clovis. "She can what now?"

"You didn't know?"

Twisting around, I stalked out of the cabin and broke free of the dream.

When I woke up, I found myself entwined in a set of arms. _Will. _My attractive friend who had a crush on me and who I had a crush on. Focusing on staying calm, I gently extracted myself from his embrace. This was easy to do, thanks to my smooth fur. He grumbled quietly as I slipped away but didn't wake up.

Now I just had to find a way to get to out of my cabin and into the Hecate cabin. Unfortunately, the knobs on the cabin doors were all the round kind. As a cat, I wouldn't be able to turn them. I would have to settle for alternative methods for entering and exiting.

Like a window. I purred joyfully when I noticed that I had left some of the windows in my cabin open to let the breeze in. Even though winter was my favorite season, I found myself glad that it was currently summer. I easily climbed up the nearest bunk and propelled myself out an open window.

The camp was beautifully silent, with the only noise being the sound of the wind and distant thunder. Storm clouds were gathered on the horizon.

My trek across the camp was peaceful. I reached the Hecate cabin without running into anyone.

A window above a stack of glowing wood (only at the Hecate cabin would that be normal) was propped open. I picked my way up the logs quickly and slipped in through the window. As luck would have it, I dropped down into the girl's side of the Hecate cabin. Of the few bunks that were occupied, Lou Ellen with her loud snore was easy to spot. I leaped onto her bed and climbed on top of her.

She mumbled and rolled away. Growling, I started poking her face with a paw. "_Wake up, Lou Ellen!_" I meowed fiercely at her. It worked: she blinked sleep out of her eyes and gave me a baffled look.

"Huh? Nico, what are you doing here?" She muttered drowsily.

"_I want you to turn me back into a human. Now._" I demanded.

"Nico, I don't speak cat." Lou Ellen replied with an eye roll. I found myself wondering if Clovis had been wrong. I decided to keep pushing, anyways.

"_I know you can understand me._" I snapped at her. An intense stare covered up my uncertainty.

Then she started to giggle. "Okay, you've got me." She admitted, "But no, I'm not going to cancel the spell."

Fury rushed through me. Snarling, I leaped forward and started to smack her with my paws. In my rage, however, I forgot to unsheathe my claws. "_Why the hell not!?_" I roared at her.

She grabbed me and lifted me up. I thrashed my legs uselessly, hissing. "Calm down, you just need to do one little thing, and you'll turn back into a human."

I calmed some. "_What do I need to do?_"

Her devious grin sent shivers down my back, even before she replied, "Are you familiar with the old story of the Princess and the frog?"

Pausing, it took me a second of thinking to realize what she was getting at. "_LOU ELLEN!_"

"What? It's just one little kiss!" She smiled sweetly, "Do that, and the spell will break!"

"_And then I'll be kissing him as a human._" I growled hotly. Honestly, I was pretty sure I didn't have the courage to kiss Will, spell or not. Lou Ellen expected too much of me. Besides that, I didn't really want to give her the satisfaction of knowing her heinous plan worked.

Her eyes twinkled, "Ain't just that swell?"

"_No!_" I yowled, "_Turn me back right now!_" I furiously clawed at the air, my tail lashing so violently that my entire body shook.

From the other side of the room, another girl spoke up. "Oh my gods, I'm trying to sleep! Lou Ellen, could get rid of the damned stray?"

And that's how I found myself thrown out of the Hecate cabin. The window I'd gotten in through was snapped shut a few seconds later. I snarled a flurry of Italian cuss words as I turned and stalked away.

_Maybe having to kiss Will isn't that bad,_ I reasoned with myself. I mean, I couldn't deny that the idea was extremely attractive. There was a piece of me, though, that was worried about it. Did I want a (_gulp_) relationship? Being alone was easy. It was simple.

Then again... kissing Will didn't have to lead to a relationship. A plan started to form in my head. If I sneaked back into the Hades cabin, I could probably steal a kiss from the sleeping boy. I would be back to being a human and Will wouldn't have to worry about getting romantically involved with the son of Hades.

Really, I was doing this for him.

It wasn't because I was running from my own feelings, I swear.

Or at least, that's what I tried to tell myself.

The camp was still devoid of life as I picked my way back to the Hades cabin. The trees were rattling as the wind grew stronger and colder.

When I reached the Hades cabin, I ran into a problem. The window I had entered was too high for me to reach. Unlike the Hecate cabin, there wasn't a conveniently located pile of logs for me to climb. Cursing under my breath, I patrolled around the entire cabin, looking for a way in.

Nothing. No reachable open windows or doors with cat-friendly knobs. I sighed. At least there was someone inside who could let me back in.

I went around to the porch and began yowling and clawing at the wooden front door. Hazel would probably kill me for the damage I was doing, especially since she had picked out this particular door when we had been doing the remodeling, but she was on my revenge list anyways.

I continued my yowling and clawing for a good two minutes. When the door remain closed, I scowled and pressed my ear against the door. The cabin was silent.

I started to really appreciate how nice being able to shadow-traveling was. Unfortunately, my Hades skills didn't worked while I was a cat.

There wasn't much of a point in continuing with my attempts. If Will was a deep sleeper, like he seemed to be, then I wasn't going to be able to get his attention with my limited vocal skills. It was a good thing that I didn't mind the idea of sleeping on the porch.

That is, until lightning snaked through the sky. The thunder that followed hurt my ears.

_Maybe I'll go crash at the Zeus cabin, _I considered. The only demigod who lived in that cabin was Jason, and I got along well with him despite the stupid cat puns earlier (which, in all honesty, had probably been Percy's idea). I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get into his cabin, but it was worth a shot.

Quickly, I took off across the camp.

I barely had passed the next cabin when the rain started. I sped up, but so did the rain. In the time it took me to pass by all of the new cabins and several of the older ones, the rain became torrential. My fur felt cold and heavy.

When thunder sounded for the second time and yet I couldn't see the lightning – or much of anything for that matter – I realized I needed to find shelter.

In the midst of the storm, I noticed a cabin to my right and darted onto it's porch and out of the rain. I gave my body an instinctual shake to kick off some of the water from my fur. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust before I recognized the smooth stone columns. _Poseidon. _Of course I'd end up stranded at Percy's cabin.

I strongly considered sleeping on the porch again, until a strong shudder ran through me. The wind was only getting chillier with every passing minute. Sucking in my pride, I started wailing and scratching at the stone door.

Nothing.

I tried wailing louder, but the roaring from the wind washed away my , I began to search for other options. Trying the storm again wasn't an option and there weren't any open windows on the porch. But, if I didn't find shelter soon, I would be in serious trouble.

The wind tugged viciously at my wet fur. I could feel my heat sapped away with every gust.

My eyes fell on a pair of boots tucked in between the legs of a thick, plastic rocking chair. It wasn't much of a shelter, but it was better than being out in the open. I crawled behind the boots (which smelled like rotten seaweed) and squeezed myself between them and the curved legs of the rocking chair. The wind wasn't buffeting me any more, which was better, but my fur was still soaked.

Shivering, I curled as tight as I could. If I feel asleep, I could try to reach Clovis again and let him know that I needed help. I tried to slow my breathing and coax my mind to sleep.

Another roar of thunder cut through the night and I flinched.

Sleeping proved to be impossible.

**- x - x -**

**- x - x- AUTHOR'S NOTES - x - x -**

The next chapter will be posted either on Wednesday or Thursday!

Comment and follow! C:

As usual, I will include the tidbit below that I typically post on a site that I can't link to on here.

**- x - x -**

**- x - x - TIDBIT #2 - x - x -**

Drew Tanaka was sitting at the edge of the lake. She stared sadly at her reflection. Her once perfect black hair was now a nasty green and her once perfect cheeks were marred by a slew of zits. Obviously, neither of these changes had been her choice; they were some of the longer lasting pranks that she'd been hit with. Ever since last Tuesday's bonfire, it had felt like the entire camp was out to get her.

There was a part of her that considered apologizing to Will Solace. Drew realized that she had crossed a line during their bickering at the bonfire. However, apologizing would be admitting weakness. Drew couldn't do that. Even in the fact of perilous pranks, curses, and insults, she would not, could not look weak.

Looking weak meant losing control.

If Drew didn't have control, what did she have? She would again be that scared little girl, locked in her room while her father entertained beautiful, wealthy women. No, she had long ago decided to never be like that again.

Thunder growled in the distance. Sighing, Drew lifted herself off the ground. She really didn't want to face the rest of the Aphrodite cabin. They hadn't yet forgiven her for her comments. However, with a storm on the horizon, Drew hadn't much of a choice. She reluctantly headed back to her cabin.

It was better to weather the storm of hatred from her brothers and sister than to weather the real storm.


	3. I Valiantly Protect a Pair of Boots

_Paradoxical Instincts_

_Chapter Three:_

**I Valiantly Protect a Pair of Boots**

Throughout the night, I toed the line between being awake and sleep. Sometimes, I'd feel the heavy tendrils of dreams start to drag me down, but it always seemed like thunder would cut through the sky right before I could give in. _Shut up, Zeus, _I thought bitterly.

The cold sank deeper and deeper into me. I couldn't stop shivering, even with my mediocre shelter. I started to feel weird; dizziness and drowsiness grew within me and my cat body heaved with every breath.

If I died as a cat, I would make sure to haunt Lou Ellen for the rest of her life.

Then, after what felt like forever, I stopped shivering. The wind was still blowing and my fur was still wet, but I didn't feel freezing. I relaxed. I felt unfocused but didn't have the energy to care.

Footsteps reached my ears. The porch shuddered as what sounded like a parade stampeded over it. The part of my mind that was still awake screamed that I needed to catch their attention. _Meow! Growl! Make sort of noise! _But I couldn't make my body move. Lights streamed around me, illuminating the smooth wood of the porch, but none of them landed on me in my little shelter.

Voices. I couldn't really understand them over the rain, but it sounded like they were saying someone was missing. Delirious, I wondered who it was that was missing. There was more said and I caught a few words: an open window, scratches on a door, something about Lou Ellen? Then the porch vibrated again as the parade stormed away.

_How weird, _I considered drowsily before I relaxed back into a tired stupor.

The storm raged on. Occasionally, the lights passed by and I could hear people calling what sounded suspiciously like my name. I was so out of it that I found myself wondering if I should join and help them look for me.

The rain started to subside right around the time that the sun peeked above the horizon. I was still hovering on the edge of consciousness.

When the parade returned for the second time to the porch, they had lost a lot of their energy. Many sets of feet clumped up the steps.

The biggest issue wasn't that I was tired and delirious. No, the biggest issue was that this parade of people – and by that I mean monsters – was here to steal the Athena statue. I still needed to get the statue to Camp Half Blood so that the Romans didn't destroy everything! Percy was counting on me and I wasn't about to let him down. Besides that, if I didn't, I might end up in another damned vase. I wasn't sure how, but I knew it had to be a possible repercussion. Monsters liked to put me in vases. On that note, I definitely did not want to be put in another vase.

I placed a paw on the statue (which only looked like a pair of boots to confuse mortals) and focused on being as silent as possible.

With the rain calmed to a light drizzle, I could hear their talk.

"Hey, it'll be alright, Will." That sounded like Piper's voice, her charmspeak thick and refreshing, but I knew better. I wasn't about to fall for some _empousa_'s impression of my friend. "We'll find him. He's got to be around here somewhere."

"We've already looked all around camp." That sounded like Will. _Crafty bastards! _I thought with bewilderment. Somehow, they had figured out my crush and were going to try to use his voice against me. Will sounded hurt and tired, but I wasn't about to be deceived into letting my statue get stolen.

"He might have went into the forest." Annabeth's voice suggested. _These empousai are good at their impressions, _I thought, seriously impressed.

"Maybe he's stuck in a tree?" A gruff, high pitched voice; that was either a female titan or an _empousa _pretending to be Clarisse.

Foot steps approached my shelter. I kept my eyes as wide as they could go as I stared out between the statue/boots and watched their feet get closer. Some how, the _empousai_ had found muddy rain boots to fit their ugly bronze hooves into.

"We went through the forest pretty thoroughly -"

"- and we didn't see him there at all." The two voices of the Stoll brothers chimed in in quick succession.

"Cats don't just disappear." Jason's voice huffed. It was kind of weird that the monsters were looking for a cat. Maybe that was a trick? I was really confused. I knew there was a good reason that they were looking for a cat, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"There are scratches in the door." Will's voice cracked as he spoke. "Something bad might have happened." My heart ached at how broken he sounded. The _empousai_ were trying to use my emotions against me.

_Statue. _I reminded myself. _Guard the statue. _I sunk my nails (or, claws? Weird, where did those come from?) into the boot.

"Well, if none of you have any other suggestions, then I'm going to take a break. I'm beat." Clarisse's voiced grunted as her _empousa_ legs got way too close to my shelter. I fluffed up and prepared myself to battle. Well, sorta. I didn't actually have the energy to move, but I was mentally ready for battle.

And then my shelter moved. All of sudden, excruciating pain raced up my backside from my tail. I screeched and curled up tightly. It happened so quickly that I was didn't know who was attacking me or how.

The voices on porch erupted into chaotic shouting. My entire body started spasming as the pain clashed with my unstable state.

I almost didn't notice when my shelter was abruptly broken apart and the wet, frigid wood disappeared from under me. The monsters shouted, filling my ears with a cacophony of noise. My tail felt like it was on fire. Wait, tail? Why did I have a tail? What had these monsters done to me!?

I tried to flail out of the grasp of my attacker, but I only managed a very weak wiggle.

"It's okay, Nico." A reassuring voice murmured into my ears. "You're going to be okay." Disoriented, I found myself uncertain if the voice was an _empousa's _or actually Will's.

Everything happened very quickly. The scenery changed sporadically. The monsters started rubbing me down with towels, which was weird. I considered that perhaps these monsters aren't very smart? With the intelligence level of some of the monsters I'd met, I wouldn't have been too surprised if they thought that demigods were weakened by towels. _Fools, _I thought manically, _I am completely resistant to towels!_

One of the monsters – the one that looked like Will – pulled off his shirt. _Empousa-_Will's chest was built sexily, just like real-Will's chest. I didn't complain when he cuddled me close to his warm, bare chest and swaddled me with blankets. I wasn't cold any more though, so I wasn't sure why they were bothering with all this.

"I don't like having to try and treat him while he's a cat!" _Empousa_-Will's voice growled, "Where's Lou Ellen? We need to break this stupid spell right now!"

Another voice chimed in, "I'll go get her."

_Empousa_-Will started to adjust me again, hugging me closer. Pain shot up my spine again from my tail and I cried out. I wiggled, helpless like a newborn baby, as the monster unwrapped part of the blankets and gently grabbed my tail. "_No, stop._" I whimpered.

The _empousai_ started to hum frantically, and the pain went away. I blinked in confusion. My tail didn't ache any more. For a monster, this _empousa_ wasn't that bad of a guy.

I allowed myself to snuggle closer to his chest. The warmth was strangely addicting. Maybe I was cold? Regardless, this new place was some much more comfortable then outside by the stupid statue. My eyelids drooped close and sleep tugged gently at the corners of my mind.

I was about to fall asleep when _empousa_ (or... maybe that was Will?) started to jostle me. "You gotta stay awake, Nico. You can't sleep." He chided me, before starting to lightly bounce me up and down.

"_Nooo..._" I complained weakly. Sleep was calling my name. I wanted to sleep. "_Stop_..." Will's annoying bouncing made it impossible to give in to my fatigue.

Two girls stormed into the cabin. (Cabin? Wait, when did I enter a cabin?) Annabeth and Lou Ellen were out of breath as they hurried over to where I was.

"Is he alright?" Lou Ellen asked.

"He'd be better if he wasn't a cat! Cancel your damn curse, Lou Ellen!" I had never heard Will snarl like that at anyone, not even Octavian. I wasn't sure if I'd heard him correctly.

Also, the walls were totally spinning.

Lou Ellen exchanged nervous looks with Annabeth and some of the other demigods that (I had just noticed) were also in the cabin.

"Lou Ellen, I know you didn't accidentally turn him into a cat! Reverse it! I can't feed him ambrosia to a cat! This isn't cute any more!" Will sounded desperate as he yelled at the daughter of Hecate.

"Well, the thing is, I kinda put a condition on the spell." Lou Ellen muttered remorsefully.

"What!? What is the condition!?"

"Uh... Nico has to kiss someone." Lou Ellen bit her lower lip.

A red blush spread over Will's face. Or maybe I was imagining that? "... that's it!?"

"Yes, well, but -"

Will didn't wait for Lou Ellen to finish. The warm chest disappeared as I was lifted up. Will's face loomed in front me. _Wait... _I thought, as confusion whirled around in my mind. _What's going on?_

Lips pressed into my cat muzzle, which was weird because I didn't have lips to be kissed on. Besides that, I still wasn't sure what was going on. I froze until Will pulled away.

Whatever was happening, I knew one thing for sure: I was still a cat. Wait, why was I cat again? _My head hurts, _I thought with a groan.

"Lou Ellen, why didn't that work?" Will demanded shakily, after wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"Uhhhh." Lou Ellen dragged out her _uh _for several seconds. "_Nico_ has to kiss someone. Someone kissing him doesn't count. Syntax is paramount with spells."

Will gaped at Lou Ellen. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Hey, spells are difficult and complex!" She whined back.

Before the two could start bickering, Piper stepped in between them. Soothing charmspeak flowed through her words as she spoke, "Hey, let's all calm down. Will, you can treat Nico even as a cat, right?"

Sighing, Will muttered miserably, "I guess I'm going to have to."

They bundled me up with more blankets. While I was awake, I was only barely so (Will occasionally jostled me to make sure of it). The demigods chattered quietly around me, but I couldn't focus on what they were saying. At some point in all this, I was moved from the cabin to the infirmary.

It wasn't until after several hours of this that they finally let me sleep.

**- x - x -**

**- x - x- AUTHOR'S NOTES - x - x -**

This chapter was so much fun to write. I hope yall enjoyed it just as much as I did!

Also, someone pointed out to me that Camp Half-Blood has a weather barrier, so storms like this actually wouldn't be possible... oops. :D Let's pretend that Leo was making some "modifications" to it and accidentally broke it a few months prior to this? (sorry, that's the best excuse I got)

As usual, please enjoy the following accompanying tidbit to the story. C:

**- x - x -**

**- x - x - TIDBIT #2 - x - x -**

Will awoke to the sensation of cold water dripping onto his face. Blinking, he slowly sat up. For a long moment, the son of Apollo wasn't sure where he was. His cabin was usually full of soft snores from his brothers. There was a blanket patterned with skeletons covering him; seeing the blanket jogged his memory. _Oh right, Hades cabin. Nico's a cat_. Will recalled as he yawned.

The bed creaked as Will rolled off and onto his feet. Water was dripping through the open windows. Still lethargic from his deep sleep, Will started closing the windows. It was as he closed the last one that it occurred to him to wonder where Nico was. When he'd fallen asleep, Nico (well, the cat version of Nico) had been curled up with him. Now, the cabin seemed to be empty except for Will. "Weird." He muttered aloud, scratching his head in confusion.

And so Will's quick five minute search through the Hades cabin began. While he didn't find Nico, he did discover a row of mythomagic figurines in a closet, an Mrs. Leary's oversized dog collar in the bathroom, and a shocking amount of McDonalds monopoly pieces underneath the beds. If Will hadn't been getting slowly more and more concerned, he would have been amused at what he'd found.

It was storming pretty hard outside. Biting the inside of his cheek, Will prayed to the gods that Nico wasn't trapped out in the rain. There was only one way to make sure, though.

Will got dressed quickly, borrowing a raincoat from Nico's closet, and headed out the front door. It was when he was closing the cabin door behind that he noticed the frantic scratches in the wood of the door. That's when Will started to panic.


	4. I Suffer Through Some Haikus

_Paradoxical Instincts_

_Chapter Four:_

**I Suffer Through Some Haikus**

When I next awoke, I was tucked underneath a heating pad and a blanket. I was in an infirmary bed, which was frivolously massive for me, considering that I was still a cat. I wiggled my way out of the sheets and eased myself to my feet. As I stood up, my head throbbed. "_Ow._"I whimpered and rubbed my head with a paw.

Memories of the night came to me slowly and disjointedly. With a jolt, I realized that everyone must have spend the better part of the morning searching for me. Guilt flooded through my feline body. I should have known better, should have seen that storm coming and stayed inside.

_Idiot! _I mentally chastised myself.

Pleasant laughter reached my ears, and I turned my head to gaze curiously at the curtains separating my bed from the rest of the infirmary. I recognized the voices as they quietly chattered: Will's, Jason's, Percy's, Annabeth's, Piper's, and more. My friends, whom I didn't even deserve, not after what I put them through.

Will spoke again, too softly for me to hear. They all started laughing again.

Will. He had done so much for me yesterday when I had been nothing but been grumpy all day. Really, he'd always been there for me. The two years that had passed since I returned to Camp Half Blood for good would have been a lot harder if I hadn't have had him supporting me along every step of the way. I started to realize that he always understood that I wasn't yet ready for... well, anyways, he'd been waiting patiently for me all this time.

Will Solace was a wonderful person. He made me feel special, even... loved.

And that frightened me.

Panic started to grow in my chest. I still wasn't ready. Guilt and anger at my fear wrapped my heart like a fist. I felt like I was suffocating in my own shame.

The window above my bed caught my eye. It was propped open and the warm sunlight was streaming in. Even though I knew I shouldn't, I needed to escape. "_I'm sorry, Will._" I meowed miserably, before scaling the nearby medical cabinet and leaping out the window.

It was afternoon. The camp was lively with demigods of all ages. However, no one seemed to pay much attention to the black cat slinking across camp.

I wasn't really sure where I was going until I reached the lake. The shore was peaceful, only disturbed by a few empty canoes tied to poles that jutted out of the moist dirt. Small waves decorated the lake's surface, glittering in the light of the setting sun. I settled down at the edge of the water and gazed thoughtfully at the gorgeous scene.

Perhaps I would simply leave forever. Before the battle with Gaea had concluded, that had been my original plan. Living a solitary life was easy. I didn't even mind the thought of being a cat; it would make going unnoticed easier. It's not like my friends needed me anyways. I couldn't make them laugh like Leo, or sooth them like Piper. I wasn't a leader, like Percy or Jason, nor was I the brains of the operation like Annabeth.

Besides, if I left, then I would never have to worry about what to do with my romantic feelings. Running away was the easiest solution to them.

"_You look awfully blue!_" I jumped a foot in the air, my fur fluffing out automatically. To my left, a bright red cat was grinning at me. "_And I don't mean your fur color._" It was strange to be able to understand the other cat's meowing.

"_Um._" I meowed, stunned. I didn't think that we had feral cats around camp. "_I'm fine, thanks._"

"_Really?_" The red cat asked, playfully frowning at me, "_Then why are you thinking about running away?_"

My mouth dropped open. How did this cat know that? "_W-what?_" I spluttered.

The red cat sucked in a big breath, before dramatically announcing, "_Pain only gets worse,_

_When you try to run away,_

_You need to be brave!_"

A haiku. Back when I was a kid, I had had the pleasure of meeting the Greek god Apollo. He had been more than happy to share his grandiose haiku's with us. I stared at the cat in front of me and realized that the red color of his fur was flickering, like it was made of fire.

"_Apollo?_" I meowed in surprise.

"_Long time no see, Nico!_" The grinning god-cat sat and wrapped his his flaming tail around his paws. "_I'd say you've gotten taller, but you've actually gotten much shorter... by about five feet, to be specific._"

I sighed. "_Yes, well, I was sort of turned into a cat._"

"_I can see that! It's a good look for you._"

"_What are you even doing here, Apollo?_" I asked, annoyed.

"_Oh, you know,_" He meowed, waving a paw casually, "j_ust checking up on my kiddies. They grow up so fast. One minute, they're tiny toddles, and then next they have a crush on the son of Hades._" Apollo winked at me.

_Oh, great,_ I thought sarcastically, _not only does the entire camp know, the gods do too. _My cheeks burned. "_That's... that's not a good thing._" I muttered, feeling guilty all over again, "_Your son is better off without me._"

"_Oh, poppycock!_" I blinked in surprise at the god's sudden out burst. "_That's not true and you know it._"

Scowling, I retorted back sharply, "_How do you know what's best, Apollo? You're a god. Love is easy for you._"

I wasn't expecting the wistful gaze that he fixed on me. "_Love's never easy, kiddo, not even for a god_." he cheered up pretty quickly and launched into another haiku, "_Letting someone in,_

_Your biggest challenge so far,_

_Is overwhelming._"

Dropping my gaze, I stared down at my cat paws. Apollo's haikus were silly, but that last one had gotten dangerously close to the truth. Kissing, dating Will meant having to let him in. I hadn't really opened up to anyone since Bianca died. In a way, all my other excuses were just that: excuses.

"_... I'm not sure if I'm ready._" I admitted shamefully.

Apollo smiled kindly at me. "_We're never ready, Mr. di Angelo. Love is a leap of faith._"

"_And what happens if it... goes wrong?_" I asked softly.

"_Then you can run away. But if you never try, how will you know? How will you feel, looking back, never knowing what could have been?_"

For some reason, I thought of Bianca, leaving on the quest with Percy and the others. I hadn't gone with her, and, even though I hadn't even had the option, the _what if_ of_ if I had gone too_ had forever afterward burned in the back of my mind. I would never know the answer to that _what if._

Could I live with myself, carrying around another _what if_? "_I... don't want to regret..._" I pondered aloud.

"Good." Apollo said kindly, then jumped back to his paws. He took several long strides towards me and raised a paw. When he tapped it to my shoulder, I felt warmth spread throughout my system. It felt sort of like courage in the form of heat. The fear released some of it's grasp on my heart and a sensation of peace filled me all the way up to my tail tip. I realized, suddenly, that I could do it. I could try that leap of faith.

"Thank you." I meowed, surprised at his gift.

Apollo laughed and teased, "Y_ou're welcome. Now, go woo my son, lover boy!_" The glare from the setting sun blinded me for a moment, and when I could see again, Apollo was gone.

I returned to staring at the lake, flicking my tail as I thought. The idea of a leap of faith still terrified me... but now, with warmth in my veins, I knew that I could do it. Maybe it would work out, maybe it wouldn't. If it didn't, it would be terrible... but, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try. I bit my lower lip nervously.

Then, I decided. I decided would try because it might work out. I would try because, while a solitary life would be easy, it wouldn't be happy.

I wanted happy.

It was time to stop running from my tumultuous feelings.

The last light of the setting sun set the camp aglow as I padded back to the infirmary. Demigods all around me were wrapping up their evening's activities. Hephaestus kids were hailing their latest inventions and crafting back to their cabins. Demeter kids were bringing in the latest haul of fruits and vegetables from the fields. Clovis was taking his pre-dinner nap under the shade of Thalia's tree.

It occurred to me that I could never really leave Camp Half Blood. I didn't have the heart to. It was home.

As I approached the Big House, I saw Will jogging down the steps. My heart started to speed up. When he saw me, he started yelling. "There you are! Gods dammit, Nico, you can't just wander off like that!" He was annoyed. I couldn't help but grin a little. Will was a stickler for proper patient care and it was, well, adorable.

He started storming towards me, yelling at me for wandering off. My mouth went dry. _Now or never. _I told myself.

I dashed at him. My cat ears were burning. I focused on only Will. Right before I jumped, panicked thoughts ran through my mind: _oh gods oh gods oh gods, I can't believe I'm doing this!_ I landed on his chest and dug my claws into his shirt.

"N-nico, what are you -!" He blurted in astonishment. I didn't let him finish. I hefted myself upward, squeezed my eyes closed, and smashed my flat cat muzzle into his lips. It was weird for a split second, and then smoke exploded outward.

My entire body throbbed. Several things happened all at once: clothes replaced my fur, my tail disappeared, my ears migrated to the sides of my head, and I became much bigger.

Big enough to throw Will off center; we both fell backwards onto the ground, me on top.

My lips were on his. Heat rushed to my face as I clumsily kissed him. This was my first kiss and I hadn't a damned clue what I was doing.

Will moaned into my mouth before his hands reached up and tangled in my hair. I gasped as Will began to kissed back fiercely. Two years of yearning had led to this moment. My heart was pounding in my chest.

When we finally broke apart, we were both panting. Will's face was bright red.

Giggles erupted from the porch and I froze in absolute horror. Several demigods were leaning on the railing of the Big House, watching us with big grins. My gaze swept over Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Lou Ellen, Cecil, Clarisse, the Stoll brothers, and a couple of others. Lou Ellen winked at me.

They had watched me knocked Will over and make out with him. If my cheeks could have gotten any redder, they would have. _Oh my gods, _I thought, the sensation of panic gripping me again. Why was privacy impossible around Camp Half Blood?

"Um. Wow." Will murmured, looking dazed.

I glanced at him, then at the crowd, and then back to Will. All the courage that I had had a minute ago was vanishing. I was too flustered to function properly.

It didn't really count as running away if I planned on eventually coming back, right? All of the warm courage that Apollo had gifted me had fizzled out of my system.

Since the sun had set, large shadows were draped from the buildings around camp. One of said shadows happened to be only a foot away. Internally, I thanked my father for my shadow-travel gift, as I rolled off Will and let the tendrils of darkness whisk me away. I could hear my friends calling after me as I faded into the shadows.

I didn't go far. After all, I wasn't looking to run away from Camp Half Blood. I reappeared in my cabin.

The silence was calming.

My heart was still pounding. _I just kissed Will Solace... _Groaning, I rubbed my face. … a_nd everyone saw. _At least the first part was good. The fact that he had kissed back made me want to dance (but not really, because I do not dance). I allowed myself a small smile.

The very next thing I did was take a shower. I reeked of wet cat, which wasn't a pleasant smell. It felt wonderful to let the hot water cascade over my face; my normal, human face. I scrubbed my skin with soap until it was raw. The next time I saw Will, I wanted to smell good, rather than remind him of waterlogged felines.

When I finally climbed out of the shower, the entire bathroom was full of steam. I had to resist the animalistic urge to shake like a wet dog. I might have not been cat any more, but I could still feel some of the cat urges. (_Ugh!_)

Towels were better than shaking. I dried myself and headed out of the bathroom. Technically, it was about dinner time, but I wasn't ready to face the rest of the campers. I threw on some pajamas and flopped, face first, onto my bed.

My sheets smelled like lavender and campfire. _Like Will._ I sighed, content.

A thunderous knock on the door jolted me off the bed. Nervously, I went over to the door. There was a good chance it was just one of my friends, here to tease me or to gossip excitedly about my romantic life. I already expected that eventually from Lou Ellen, Hazel, Piper, and probably even Jason. However, there was also the chance that it was _him_.

It was him.

I opened the door and found a determined Will Solace staring me down. Before I could form a coherent sentence, he pushed his way into my cabin and slammed the door behind him.

"Uh, W-will!" I stuttered with alarm, blushing as he closed the distance between us.

He didn't reply. Rather, he reached out and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. I found myself staring into his blue eyes for about a quarter of a second before our lips met and my eyes fluttered shut. Will kissed me passionately, his lips moving with mine. I whimpered as he nipped at my bottom lip.

The kiss was intoxicating. My legs felt like jelly; the only reason I was standing was because I was braced against Will.

When we finally broke apart, Will whispered huskily, "I've been waiting a long time to kiss you like that, Nico."

I stared at him, my breathing ragged. He'd waited for me. Guilt washed over me, and my head drooped. "Thank you..." I muttered softly, "For waiting." _I'm sorry it took so long. _

His fingers gently pushed on my chin, raising my head. Will's trademark smile was plastered on his face. "You were worth waiting for." The big dork knew exactly what to say to make my heart skip a beat.

That night, neither Will or I participated in the roasting of marshmallows or friendship-building campfire songs. No, Will and I spent the rest of the evening together in my cabin. By the end of the night, I had the shape of his lips committed to memory. I never wanted him to leave. Unfortunately, the cleaning harpies had different plans: shortly after curfew, they burst in and scared the living Tartarus out of us both.

A week later, as Will and I planted cat balls and pig balls that we had pilfered from Lou Ellen's stash in the bunks of everyone on my revenge list (we were mailing one to Hazel), we reminisced happily on how he had barely escaped the harpies unscathed.

**- x - x -**

**- x - x- AUTHOR'S NOTES - x - x -**

Well, that was fun. C: If you liked this, make sure to check out my other fan fictions! I'm currently in the middle of publishing and writing what will be my longest Solangelo fiction ever, Cobalt Blue.

**- x - x -**

**- x - x - TIDBIT #4 - x - x -**

The next time that Will broke curfew, he took more precautions. He wanted until the rest of his cabin had fallen asleep before he silently crept out of bed, yanked on his shoes, and slipped out of the front door. Also, instead of wearing his usual orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and shorts, he was wearing his black spy gear. In addition to his black clothes, Will covered his mop of blond hair with a black beanie.

Nico was asleep when Will reached his cabin. Grinning deviously, Will sneaked into the Hades cabin, making sure that the door didn't click as he closed it.

The two boys had been dating for roughly two weeks. However, much to Will's frustration, they hadn't had another chance to make out feverishly (like they had the last time Will broke curfew). Every time that Will had gotten Nico alone, something would happen or someone would suddenly appear. From Jason bursting into the cabin during the day time to tell them excitedly about his newest shrine to Kayla bursting into his office in the infirmary to let him know about some kid who'd gotten speared, it had started to feel like the entire camp was working against them.

That's why Will had decided to revert to extreme measures.

The bed creaked as Will eased himself down at the edge of it. Nico muttered softly, but didn't wake up. Giggling, Will brushed some of his boyfriend's black hair out of his face. Nico looked downright adorable when he was sleeping.

Leaning down, Will pressed his lips into Nico's cheeks. "Wake up, sleeping beauty." He hummed pleasantly. At first, Nico grumbled, still asleep, with his face twitching as he weakly pushed at Will's face with a hand. Laughing, Will continued to leave little kisses along Nico's face, dropping down to his jawline and working his way up to Nico's ear.

Nico murmured again, his eyes opening just slightly.

Will placed a kiss on Nico's ear before leaning back. Yawning, Nico started to blink sleep out of his eyes. When he noticed Will staring down at him, he froze in surprise. "Uh, Will?" Nico murmured with confusion. "What are you doing here?"

Reaching forward, Will gently cupped Nico's cheek. "I wanted you to myself for a little while." He explained mischievously, before leaning back down and pressing his lips to Nico's.

When he pulled away again, the paler boy's cheeks were flushed red. Will loved how easily Nico blushed. "O-okay." Nico breathed softly, before tentatively grabbing Will's collar and pulling him down for another kiss.


End file.
